{"id":7440,"date":"2025-08-17T17:53:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T15:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.italpreziosi.it\/gold-guide\/the-carat-system-thousandths-and-750-gold\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T16:22:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T15:22:38","slug":"the-carat-system-thousandths-and-750-gold","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.italpreziosi.it\/en\/gold-guide\/the-carat-system-thousandths-and-750-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"The carat system, thousandths and 750 gold"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"7440\" class=\"elementor elementor-7440 elementor-103\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1f45437 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"1f45437\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-200ad9c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"200ad9c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-047f4e7 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"047f4e7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7d6928b elementor-widget elementor-widget-shortcode\" data-id=\"7d6928b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"shortcode.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-shortcode\"><nav aria-label=\"breadcrumbs\" class=\"rank-math-breadcrumb\"><p><span class=\"last\">Italpreziosi<\/span><\/p><\/nav><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f6760d1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f6760d1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The carat system, thousandths and 750 gold<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b1511c7 elementor-widget__width-inherit elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b1511c7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Two different units of measurement are used to <strong>assess the purity of gold<\/strong>, and therefore its value: <strong>carats<\/strong> and <strong>thousandths<\/strong>. For this reason, for example, we can refer to <strong>750 gold<\/strong> or <strong>18-carat gold<\/strong> to indicate the gold commonly used in jewellery. <\/p><p>But what exactly do these measurements represent and what are the differences? Let&#8217;s find out together. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cadacf1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cadacf1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-10e990d e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"10e990d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6cd4776 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"6cd4776\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"481\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.italpreziosi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/lingotto-oro-100-grammi-italpreziosi.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-image-1829\" alt=\"A single gold bar with inscriptions rests on a metal surface, illuminated by light from above.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.italpreziosi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/lingotto-oro-100-grammi-italpreziosi.jpg.webp 720w, https:\/\/cdn.italpreziosi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/lingotto-oro-100-grammi-italpreziosi-300x200.jpg.webp 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f626031 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"f626031\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1358291 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1358291\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What is gold fineness and what do the <span class=\"sf\"> thousandths <\/span>indicate? <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fb51f83 elementor-widget__width-inherit elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"fb51f83\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Gold fineness is the amount of pure metal relative to the total weight of the object. <strong>Law No. 46 of 1968 <\/strong>, on the Regulation of Fineness and Identification Marks for Precious Metals, establishes that gold, silver, platinum and palladium \u2018must be stamped with the <strong>fineness in thousandths<\/strong>\u2019.<\/p><p>The <strong>fineness of gold<\/strong> represents a measure of the purity of the precious metal expressed in parts per thousand.<\/p><p>At a regulatory level, therefore, the fineness of gold must be expressed in thousandths: for this reason, a pure gold ingot must be marked with the inscription <strong>999.9<\/strong>, indicating a purity of 999.9\/1000, the highest level achievable, as clearly stated in the technical data sheet of any pure gold ingot, such as, for example, the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/shop.italpreziosi.it\/en\/investment\/bars\/gold\/100g-gold-bars\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">100-gram gold ingot<\/a><\/span> marketed by Italpreziosi.<\/p><p>According to this scale, it is easy to see that the well-known \u201c750 gold\u201d contains 750\u2030 of pure gold. However, not everyone will know that this corresponds to 18-carat gold, a term that refers to another unit of measurement for gold purity.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3820781 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3820781\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-64eb923 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"64eb923\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9d93bd7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"9d93bd7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What do gold <span class=\"sf\">carats<\/span> represent?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8d8a9ae elementor-widget__width-inherit elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8d8a9ae\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Carats<\/strong>, like thousandths, represent a <strong>measure of gold purity<\/strong>: what changes is the reference scale. <strong>One carat corresponds to 1\/24 of a mass of pure gold<\/strong>: therefore, <strong>24-carat gold<\/strong> \u2013 commonly referred to as &#8216;pure gold&#8217; \u2013 has 24 parts out of 24 of gold and therefore a purity of 100%.<\/p><p>According to the same scale, as is easy to guess, <strong>18-carat gold<\/strong> contains 18 parts of pure gold out of a total of 24, or 75%; the remaining 25%, as we have seen previously, is composed of an alloy of other metals.<\/p><p><strong>The carat system is mainly used in jewellery<\/strong>: jewellery is usually made of 18-carat gold, which is less malleable and more resistant than 24-carat gold.<\/p><p>The <strong>origin of the term \u201ccarat\u201d<\/strong> is particularly fascinating, with ancient roots: it derives from the Greek ker\u00e1tion, which referred to the carob tree, itself a diminutive of keras, meaning \u201chorn\u201d, due to its shape. Carob seeds \u2013 literally \u201clittle horns\u201d \u2013 were used to weigh precious objects. In fact, they were believed to always have the same mass, making them ideal as a unit of measurement.  <\/p><p>The term was taken from the Arabic q\u012br\u0101\u1e6d, which literally means \u201ctwenty-fourth part\u201d: in addition to being a unit of weight for precious metals, it was also a sub-multiple of the dirham, the silver coin used in the Islamic world during the Middle Ages.<\/p><p>Today, carats are used both as a unit of weight for precious stones and as an index of purity for gold alloys. In the latter context, <strong>the gold carat has retained its ancient value of 1\/24<\/strong>, as in the Arab world. <\/p><p>It is a term with such an ancient and widespread meaning that today, by definition, the derivative \u201c<strong>carat<\/strong>\u201d is used to indicate the precise value of a person or a project.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f0e598 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3f0e598\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-41048c8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"41048c8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"461\" height=\"493\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.italpreziosi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/produzione-gioiello-oro-750.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-image-1827\" alt=\"Close-up of hands holding a gold chain against a polishing wheel, smoothing and shining the jewelry piece using a polishing machine.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.italpreziosi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/produzione-gioiello-oro-750.jpg.webp 461w, https:\/\/cdn.italpreziosi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/produzione-gioiello-oro-750-281x300.jpg.webp 281w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4ade8d4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"4ade8d4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Gold carats: how to understand its <span class=\"sf\">value<\/span>?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-214238f elementor-widget__width-inherit elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"214238f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"block-go\"><p>Whether it is yellow gold, white gold, rose gold or red gold, the precious metal par excellence must always have a mark recognising its value.<\/p><p>To <strong>understand the carats of gold<\/strong>, it is necessary to examine the <strong>hallmark<\/strong> on the product, whether it is jewellery, a bar or another gold object. The hallmark is a mark of recognition that <strong>identifies<\/strong> the manufacturer and <strong>the purity of the gold in the jewellery<\/strong>.<\/p><p>Alternatively, you can use a carat tester, a tool that allows you to determine the purity of gold accurately and reliably.<\/p><p>Once you have understood the carat weight, to determine <strong>the value in terms of cost<\/strong>, it is obviously pure gold (24 carats or 999.9 thousandths) that is used as a reference for the price, which is determined on the international markets by the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.italpreziosi.it\/en\/gold-guide\/gold-fixing-the-price-of-gold-on-international-markets\/\">London fixing<\/a><\/strong><\/span> twice a day.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"block-go\">\u00a0<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-84151ef e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"84151ef\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6b31a57 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"6b31a57\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-57e038e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"57e038e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Correspondence between carats and thousandths: <span class=\"sf\">750 or 18 carat gold<\/span><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-813696c elementor-widget__width-inherit elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"813696c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>To summarise what we have said, carats and thousandths both indicate the purity of gold, but on different scales.<\/p><p>The carat represents the fraction of 1\/24 of pure gold in a precious object. Thousandths indicate the number of parts of pure gold per thousand. <\/p><p>So how many carats does <strong>750 gold correspond to<\/strong>? This is one of the easiest examples, because it is perhaps the best known: 750 gold indicates an alloy containing 750\u2030 pure gold and the remaining 250\u2030 other metals. This value <strong>corresponds exactly to the 18 carat gold<\/strong> we mentioned earlier. <\/p><p>It is possible to quickly <strong>convert<\/strong> between the two units of measurement using a table like this:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c13dbbe e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"c13dbbe\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-10e6a11 custom-table elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"10e6a11\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Carat<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Thousandths<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<td>41,666<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<td>83,333<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>125,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<td>166,666<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5<\/td>\n<td>208,333<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<td>250,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>291,666<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<td>333,333<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>9<\/td>\n<td>375,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>10<\/td>\n<td>416,666<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>11<\/td>\n<td>458,333<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>12<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>500,000<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>13<\/td>\n<td>541,666<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>14<\/td>\n<td>583,333<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>15<\/td>\n<td>625,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>16<\/td>\n<td>666,666<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>17<\/td>\n<td>708,333<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>18<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>750,000<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>19<\/td>\n<td>791,666<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>20<\/td>\n<td>833,333<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>21<\/td>\n<td>875,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>22<\/td>\n<td>916,666<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>23<\/td>\n<td>958,333<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>24<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1000,00<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The carat system, thousandths and 750 gold Two different units of measurement are used to assess the purity of gold, and therefore its value: carats and thousandths. For this reason, for example, we can refer to 750 gold or 18-carat gold to indicate the gold commonly used in jewellery. But what exactly do these measurements [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":7427,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7440","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.italpreziosi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.italpreziosi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.italpreziosi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.italpreziosi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.italpreziosi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7440"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.italpreziosi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7548,"href":"https:\/\/www.italpreziosi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7440\/revisions\/7548"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.italpreziosi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.italpreziosi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}